Ronald O'Weasley and the Little People
by Carrick O'Rourke
Summary: Ron gets hit with a nasty curse and he does some mighty strange stuff before it's lifted.


Ronald O'Weasley and the Little People

Ron Weasley awoke with a start and looked into the face of Hermione Granger. He blinked a couple of times and starred in puzzlement as her expression slowly changed from one of worry to pleasure. She smiled at him and then turned and spoke to others in the room he now recognized to be the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He should recognize it. He had spent enough time in here in the past. However, he could not remember now how he came to be here this time.

"He's awake! Ron's awake. Harry, Ginny . . ."

"Ooh," Ginny squealed happily as she hurried over to Ron's bed, "Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore were right. How are you feeling, Ron?"

"What do you mean how am I feeling? I feel fine."

Hermione leaned forward and kissed Ron on the forehead. "Do you really? I think I better get Madame Pomfrey so she can make sure." Before Ron could protest, she was up and away. Harry, who had followed Ginny over to the bed, grinned at his friend.

"Nice to see you back to your normal size."

"What do you mean back to my normal size? Why I am I here? What the bloody . . ."

"We'll have none of that Mr. Weasley." Madame Pomfrey strolled purposefully to his bedside where she checked his temperature and gave him a quick exam. "That strange powder appears to have worked. What you need now is some peace and quiet so you can get some rest."

"No. I want some answers. I want to know why I'm in here."

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You really don't remember anything you did?" Ginny broke in with a grin, looking a little too happy at the idea for Ron's liking.

"No. The only thing I remember is a weird dream where I was a leprechaun."

"That's because you were. I couldn't believe it."

"What are you on about, Harry?"

"What Mr. Potter is trying to say is that you were the victim of a very rare but serious curse. It is a leprechaun curse used on humans in the most extreme cases. The curse changes a human into a leprechaun."

"What! Have you lost your mind completely! That's impossible!" Madame Pomfrey scowled at the insult.

"Absolutely not. I can assure you there are numerous cases of it happening in Ireland, when someone upsets them. It is their way of getting revenge for some slight, either real or imagined. Don't assume that you know, Mr. Weasley, of all the magic in the world. I can assure you, you do not." Ron accepted the rebuke with a flush.

"Sorry, Madame. But why me? What did I ever do to them?"

"Mr. Finnigan will have to explain that. I'll send for him . . ." Harry cut in.

"Yeah, he's been checking in on you all evening."

"But what is this all about? What happened?"

Hermione sat down on the bed next to Ron and smiled fondly at him. "Sit back, and we'll tell you the whole thing."

Ginny giggled with delight of reminding Ron of the day's escapades and climbed onto the bed. Harry grinned, shrugged and also took a seat on the bed next to Ginny. He draped an arm around Ginny's shoulders and began the complicated explanation.

"It started this morning. You got up early to finish that potions essay. When Dean, Seamus and I came downstairs, we saw you kneeling on the floor and looking under an easy chair. You claimed you'd seen a leprechaun, but we just laughed and said that was impossible."

"They were still laughing about it when Ginny and I came down. I told you it was impossible for leprechauns to be at Hogwarts. I guess I was uh, a little wrong." Hermione blushed at the last part of her comment. Ron just rolled his eyes as Harry again took up the story.

"I think I began to believe you when we went to Potions. You were taking your essay up to the front to Snape's desk when all of a sudden the essay burst into flames and . . ."

"It what?" Ron sat up straight in bed with a wild-eyed expression on his face.

"Sorry, mate. Ashes. Nothing but ashes."

"Oh, bloody . . ."

"Ron!" Hermione warned with a no-nonsense expression. He just growled under his breath as she continued on.

"It didn't get any better in Transfiguration. The exercise for the day was to transfigure a rat into a cat.

I led off and performed the transfiguration quite well if I have to admit it . . ."

"No one was asking you to," Ron cut in as he gave an exasperated look at Harry. Hermione frowned in annoyance but continued with the story without getting into an argument. "You then approached the rat, gave the incantation and in a flash, the rat turned into a cat."

"Well, that's good. After all, I know that spell really well, what with all of the studying we've done."

"There was one serious problem with the transfiguration. The cat was green!"

"It . . . was . . .how did that happen?"

"Professor McGonagall wondered that too. In fact, she ordered you to turn the cat back to its natural color and you couldn't. Then she tried and she couldn't either."

Ron and the others starred at her in amazement. "You mean she couldn't even do it?"

"No. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. But I'm sure now that she knows what happened to you and that it really wasn't your fault, she'll take away the three nights' detention and give Gryffindor back the twenty points she took."

"You've got to be kidding. She really gave me detention for a small thing like a green cat?"

"Well, you need to remember, she's rather partial to cats."

"Yeah, I know. But it isn't like I turned her green."

"Now I know why you were so grumpy at lunch," Ginny grinned at Ron. She then turned to Hermione. "But that doesn't explain why you were upset."

"That's because he had cost Gryffindor points and got detention. Now Ron, don't even say anything. I didn't know that there really were leprechauns causing all of these problems. I thought you were . . . well, just being a silly prat."

"Oh , thanks. That makes me feel good."

"Well, sometimes you do act like a silly prat and we have an image to sustain; we are, after all, prefects."

Ginny and Harry rolled their eyes as Ron gave her a wicked grin. "Then we better make sure none of the impressionable little students see us during one of our snogging sessions on the stairs of the old south tower." Ginny gave a loud guffaw, Harry blanched and asked to be reminded not to go unannounced to the old south tower. Hermione turned several shades of red.

"Oh, just go on with the story, Ginny."

"If you insist. I mean we could continue the discussion about the south . . ." Hermione turned even redder and grit her teeth.

"I insist."

"Okay. It was at lunch, Ron, that we all noticed you had changed. You had pointed ears and . . ."

"Pointed ears!"

"They didn't look too bad on you. But you also started to shrink.

By this point, Ron had a sick look on his face. "Pointed ears and I was shrinking?"

"Well, you were becoming a leprechaun, Ron," Hermione interjected in a matter-of-fact way.

"But it gets better!" Ginny could hardly stifle the laugh that was in the back of her throat. "When you sat down to lunch, you actually asked for corned beef." Ron scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"Don't forget about the cooked cabbage, Ginny." Harry was chuckling at Ron's expression. "He also asked for cooked cabbage and boiled potatoes."

"You should have known right then that there was something wrong with me." Hermione smiled at Ron.

"We did. That's why we brought you to see Madame Pomfrey."

"Oh. Then I slept for awhile and just woke up."

Ginny and Harry gave each other bemused looks and then Ginny explained, "It wasn't that easy. By the time we got you here, you were Harry's height. Madame Pomfrey looked you over and did some tests. That's when she told you that you had been cursed by leprechauns and that you were slowly turning into one. She explained that she needed to check her books to see if there was a potion to counter the curse. She had seen cases of this but had never dealt with them t herself. She told you to change and get into bed. However . . ." Ginny glanced nervously at Hermione who blushed a little but set her chin defiantly.

"You had a test in Defense Against the Dark Arts and you know you already missed one; you couldn't miss another."

"You mean to tell me that you made me go out in public short and all?"

"Well, you weren't too short then."

Harry looked displeased. "Yeah. You weren't that short. Ginny said you were my height when we went to the hospital wing."

"Oh . . . uh . . . yeah. I guess you're right. I wasn't real short then."

"Besides," Hermione continued, "other than the craving for corned beef, you hadn't started acting too strange yet."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"We finished the tests in Defense Against the Dark Arts and were just leaving the classroom when you started to sing."

"I what?" Ron had sat up in bed and looked shocked.

"You started to sing 'Molly Malone' and . . ."

"Yeah," Harry added grinning broadly, "singing cockles and mussels, sweet Molly Malone. I didn't know you even knew that song."

"Neither did I.," Ron replied glumly.

"Oh, it got better," Ginny laughed and then tried unsuccessfully to look serious, "I mean worse, of course.

"Do I want to hear this?"

"Probably not. Anyway, you, Harry and Hermione were walking along the corridor and they were listening to you sing 'Molly Malone' when some of us fifth-year girls came from the other direction. Do you remember Rosie Fitzgerald, the black-haired girl in Ravenclaw who . . ." Hermione, cheeks turning pink, broke-in.

"We really don't need to discuss this. Let's just move on with the explanation."

"What's up with you, Hermione? I wanna know what happened. It can't be that bad can it?" Ginny laughed.

"Well, it was. Kind of.. But, Hermione, you know he wasn't in his right mind. You shouldn't feel bad about it. I mean, it was all a big . . . Come to think about it, I think it's the only time I've ever heard you swear."

"That's true," Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I didn't even think you knew those words."

By this point, Hermione was a bright crimson red and wide-eyed. She began stuttering. "I . . . I . . . I don't know . . . It was just so embarrassing to have Ron practically attack that girl and, I mean we are prefects you know . . ."

"Whoa! Wait. What did I do to that girl?"

"Well, as I was saying," Ginny continued, casting a nervous glance at Hermione who was still smoldering in embarrassment and frustration. "We were coming from History of Magic and were walking along when all of a sudden you grabbed Rosie by her hand and started singing "My Wild Irish Rose." Ron put his hands in his face and groaned.

"I can't believe this. I don't even know how to sing." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we noticed."

Ron shot him an exasperated glance as Ginny, in obvious glee, continued. "Well, you sang the first verse and then you took her in your arms, dipped her and planted a big kiss on her lips."

"Aaah!" Ron pulled at his red locks and glanced nervously at Hermione who sat there with her head down, shaking it back and forth and mumbling about the humiliation of having her boyfriend attack another girl. "Why would I do that? I hardly even know her. Was she upset? Am I in trouble?"

"Well, I think you picked her to sing to because she was the first Irish girl you met. She was really shocked at first. Then she thought it was kind of funny, especially by the third time."

"The third time!" Ron yelled it so loud that Madame Pomfrey poked her head out of the office and shushed them.

"Yeah. For some crazy reason, we kept running into you three." Ginny gave a conspiratorial smile at Harry, he grinned back and gave her quick kiss on her cheek. "Hermione did her best to keep you away, but the fates were against you I guess." Hermione glared suspiciously at Ginny as Ron groaned again.

"Did I sing to her each time and dip her and kiss like the first time?"

"Well, no. By the third time, you were so much shorter than she that you couldn't dip her. Instead, you just cried out in a loud voice, 'Ah and sure I'll be kissing me sweet cailin.'(1) She even bent down so you could kiss her." Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"That little hussy! I mean . . . oh, forget it. I know she thought it all was a big laugh."

"Oh, I can't believe this. Did I do that to any of the other Irish girls?"

"Fortunately, you only saw one other. Sinead O'Reilly.

"Who?"

"You know, that blond-haired third-year Hufflepuff."

"I don't know her."

"You do now. She was coming out of the library after your second meeting with Rosie Fitzgerald. You saw her and screamed, 'Ah, another sweet Irish cailin.' You ran up and threw your arms around her and tried to kiss her. By that time you had shrunk enough so that you were her height. She's not very tall you know, and so she . . ."

"Yeah," Ron cut in, "now that I remember, she's real short. She's about your height, Ginny."

Ginny got a very offended look on her face and folded her arms defensively. "I'm not as short as she. I'm at least a half, or maybe even an inch taller than she." Ron gave his younger sister a bemused look.

"Oh. That's right. She's definitely shorter than you." Ginny scowled at his patronizing tone as Hermione took up the story.

"Needless to say, Ron , Sinead didn't know what you were on about and she is a rather shy girl. She pushed you away from her and started to run in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room. You ran after her yelling, 'Come back, you pretty wee thing, I want to sing to you and dance with you

and . . ."

"Stop! I get the idea. This is horrible." Ginny gave a wicked laugh.

"Not as horrible as Sinead must have thought it was. She yelled something back in Gaelic and I don't think it was very nice from the tone of her voice."

Ron was laying back against his pillow looking up at the ceiling as if in a daze. "Oh, I'm going to have to apologize to her. I don't know if I'm going to be able to show my face around here after this embarrassment." Hermione looked sympathetically at Ron.

"It's okay, Ron. You've done silly things before and yet you still walk around without any problem."

"Oh, is that supposed to make me feel better? Besides, what could be more embarrassing than singing to girls and kissing them?"

"Maybe it was your dancing." Harry was practically laughing as Ron stared at him in disbelief.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

Hermione, who appeared to be more calm now that the part about Rosie Fitzgerald and Sinead O'Reilly had been discussed, patted Ron soothingly. "I'm afraid he isn't."

"But I can't dance!"

"Yeah, we noti . . ." Ron made Harry stop short with a scathing glance as Ginny continued with the relish that only a sister who is causing her elder brother to squirm in embarrassment can.

"Well, shortly after the first time you sang to and kissed Rosie, Seamus and Dean came along and Seamus was whistling one of those old Irish tunes he whistles at times. You screamed, "Aye, that's one of me favorites.' Then you started dancing a jig in the middle of the corridor."

"And I bet everyone in the school was laughing at me." Harry shook his head.

"Actually, a number of us were impressed. Seamus looked at you dancing and said, 'He looks and dances like a leprechaun." Ginny nodded in agreement.

"You really did do a good job considering you're not Irish. I guess what made the whole thing bad was that Draco Malfoy saw you dancing and saw that you were getting smaller. He got Peeves to follow you around playing a little fiddle. Every time he started playing you started dancing and the faster he played, the faster you danced. Then, shortly after the third time you kissed Rosie, Draco and his cronies came and were all laughing at you and calling you names as Peeves played faster and faster."

Hermione scowled in anger. "Malfoy's a slimy little git."

"I should have hexed that filthy Malfoy into next week." Harry gave a little shrug.

"Well, you tried. We found out two things. The first is that it's very difficult to dance when your trousers are baggy and several sizes too big."

"My trousers fit just fine."

"Not when, by that time, you were about three feet tall."

Ron looked at his best friend with new-found horror. "Please don't tell me my trousers fell down and everyone saw my . . ."

The others laughed as Harry explained, "Well, they almost did, but Hermione saved you. She had already shrunk your clothes a couple of times. We had just got so caught up in the singing and dancing that we hadn't noticed how loose they were until they started to fall. Hermione did some great spell-work to keep them up and then shrink them quickly." Ron sat up, looked at Hermione with appreciation, leaned over and gave her quick kiss.

"Thanks, Hermione." She beamed as Harry continued.

"The second thing we found out was that you had lost your magical powers. It seems with that leprechaun curse, the person becomes like a leprechaun but is not a true leprechaun. In other words, they look and act like a leprechaun, but don't have a leprechaun's magical powers. So, when you cursed Malfoy, it did nothing. Malfoy laugher harder and pulled his own wand out to hex you. We were in the process of pulling our wands out to protect you when five real leprechauns came out from behind some statues . . ." Ginny laughed at the memory.

"Yeah, it was great! With the wave of a hand from the leprechaun leader, Malfoy flew back about five feet and hit the wall. The leprechaun yelled, 'You'll be leaving the Finnigan boy alone, he's ours.' Another leprechaun yelled, 'Get lost, you albino banshee bait, or you'll wish you'd never heard of leprechauns.' With that, he waved his hand and Malfoy went rolling about another five feet down the corridor. Crabbe and Goyle helped Malfoy to his feet and they went running off screaming as loud as three banshees."

"Hey, did you just say the leprechauns called me Finnigan? Did they mean Seamus?"

The three looked at each other. Hermione sighed resignedly.

"Yes. That's what's so crazy about this. You shouldn't have gone through any of what you did today. They made a mistake. They thought you were Seamus. It took a bit of talking to get them to believe they had picked the wrong guy." Ginny nodded in agreement.

"But first, we need to fill you in on the rest of what happened."

"You mean there's still more?"

"Oh, yeah. It get's even funnier . . . I . . .I mean more interesting." Ron frowned, but Ginny continued on. "After Malfoy went running off, the leprechauns gave you a wicked grin and then started to scamper away. But, Hermione grabbed her wand and did petrificus totalus on the last one. He stiffened up, fell over and Harry ran and grabbed him before the other leprechauns realized what was happening. We then got out of there as fast as we could. Harry was great. He had the stiff little leprechaun in one hand and picked you up under his free arm. You should have seen the expressions on other students as we ran through the hallways. The little leprechaun with a frozen surprised expression and then you under Harry's arm kicking your little feet and waving your little arms screaming 'put me down, you bloody son of a . . ."

"Okay, Ginny," Hermione interrupted, "I think Ron get's the idea."

Ron glared first at Ginny and then accusingly at Harry who just shrugged in self-depreciation and then kissed Ginny on the cheek. Her grin widened even more as Ron mumbled, "I guess I should thank you for picking me up like a sack of potatoes."

"Irish potatoes," Ginny corrected him, barely concealing a chuckle.

"Yeah, whatever." Hermione glanced nervously at brother and sister and forged quickly ahead.

"Anyway, we took the leprechaun, Cian was his name, into an empty classroom, un-petrified him and then questioned him. He actually was very nice, even though he was sure we were lying about you not being Seamus. After a little bit of persuasion, we convinced him; I think because he knew Seamus didn't have a sister at Hogwarts and Ginny looked enough like you that he couldn't deny you were brother and sister." The siblings grinned at each other as Harry continued.

"We let him go after arranging to have all five leprechauns meet us at Professor Dumbledore's office for a discussion. As usual, he already knew about the leprechauns and the curse on you. Anyway we also got Seamus and went . . ."

"Wait!" Ginny jumped in. "You forgot about what happened on the way to find Seamus and then on the way to Professor Dumbledore's office." Harry grinned and Hermione scowled in frustration.

"Oh yeah, we can't leave that out. Go ahead, Ginny."

"Well, on the way to Gryffindor Tower, we ran into a group of first-year Gryffindors. By this time you were a little under two feet tall. They started laughing, patting you on the head, and making rude comments. You yelled, 'You better show some respect, I still have me prefect's badge.'"

Ron groaned in frustration as Harry continued, "They laughed even louder. Hermione was about to step in when you pulled your wand out and told them to show you respect or they would be hexed." Ginny started laughing.

"Then, I guess you remembered that you couldn't do magic because you held the wand in front of you in both your little hands and cried out in a squeaky voice, 'Stop yer laughing, or I'll hit you with me shillaleagh.'(2) Then you started chasing them down the corridor swinging your wand wildly in front of you."

"You mean they actually ran?"

"Yes. You were a mean little fellow." Ron glared as Ginny continued. " That and the rest of us had pulled our wands and were aiming them right at the first-years."

The proud enthusiasm Ron had momentarily felt seemed to fade away. "Well, I'll have to teach those little blighters some respect now that I'm back to my full height."

"You might want to teach Mrs. Norris something too."

"What do you mean, Ginny?"

"Well, by the time we found Seamus and headed toward Professor Dumbledore's office, you appeared to be shrinking by the minute. You were less than a foot tall and weren't even able to drag your wand around anymore. We were walking slowly and you still had to run to keep up. About halfway there, Filch came along with Mrs. Norris and he actually sicced her on you. She took off after you and you were running, screaming with your hands waving in the air and trying to hide behind one of the statues. Hermione froze Mrs. Norris and put you in her book bag. As we left, Filch was still crying over his cat and you were leaning out of the book bag making obscene gestures at the two of them." Ron grinned as Harry took up the story.

"You rode the rest of the way to Professor Dumbledore's office in Hermione's book bag."

"Thanks, Hermione"

"It was the least I could do with that awful cat around. Anyway, by the time we arrived, the leprechauns were waiting there and soon we all went up to his office. He was very kind to the leprechauns; he even offered each of them a miniature bottle of Irish whiskey." Hermione couldn't hide an obvious disapproval, to which Harry grinned broadly.

"You kept asking for some whiskey. Of course, Dumbledore didn't give you any. He did get butterbeer and a mug for you. Then you and the leprechauns drank and sang."

"Oh, not more singing!" Ginny started laughing.

"Oh, yeah! All six of you had your arms around each other's shoulders and were swaying back and forth as you sang "Galway Bay" over and over and you actually cried into your butter beer each time you sang "I will ask my God to let me make my heaven, in that dear land across the Irish Sea."

"I can't believe it. I don't know the words to Galway Bay."

"Yeah, well, we noticed you hummed just about everything except the chorus." Ginny got a wicked grin on her face. "Then you and the other little people all started singing some wild song with the chorus going something like 'we'll drink, and drink, and drink, and drink, and drink, and drink and fight! and if I see a pretty girl, I'll sleep with her . . ." Ron's eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open as Hermione, face blushing brightly, cut Ginny off.

"Okay, Ginny, I think we got the idea."

"Completely," Harry chuckled as Hermione gave him a furious look.

"Well, let's hope he didn't offend Professor Dumbledore with that filthy song and then some of the suggestive things he and the leprechauns were saying to Ginny and me. I just hope he didn't get himself into trouble."

"Not at all," came the amused voice of Professor Dumbledore. Everyone turned to see him strolling into the hospital room. He was smiling benignly at the students. "He was just acting like a leprechaun; which was natural since he was like one." He walked over to Ron, took a very small object about the size of a thimble out of his pocket and handed it to him. "I thought you might want your mug as a souvenir for when you were almost a leprechaun."

"I really was small! But why? Why did the leprechauns go after me?" The others turned expectantly to Professor Dumbledore as he explained.

"They put their curse on you because they thought you were Seamus Finnigan. It appears the Finnigan family did something to offend the king of the leprechauns. Because of that, the king ordered all male members of the Finnigan family be cursed. That is why they came here to Hogwarts. When they saw you and your red hair, they naturally assumed you were Seamus Finnigan."

"Well that makes a bloody lot of sense. Why didn't they just ask me?"

"Their original intent was to not be seen. It was only when they thought you were in danger from young Mr. Malfoy that they showed themselves. They wanted to chase him away in order to make sure that you experienced the full force of their curse by shrinking to their height, taking on their characteristics, and, most importantly, losing your magical powers forever." Ginny looked shocked.

"If Hermione hadn't caught Cian and convinced him you're not Seamus, you would be without your magical powers."

"But what about Seamus? He's one of my roommates. I don't want anything to happen to him." Dumbledore smiled.

"You don't need to worry. I think we were able to talk Faolan, the leader of the five leprechauns, into not cursing Seamus and returning to Ireland where, hopefully, the Finnigan clan is making peace with the leprechauns." Dumbledore's smile wavered a little. "At least I hope we were able to talk Faolan and the others into going back to Ireland. He never gave a definite answer, but it appears they left Hogwarts." The others looked at each other and kind of shrugged as Harry commented.

"We're actually not sure what was said because after all of the drinking and singing, Professor Dumbledore spoke in Gaelic to the leprechauns."

Ginny nodded and continued. "We do know that Faolan and the other leprechauns agreed to break the curse on you. You all drank a toast to each other and you were crying, 'Me friends from dear old Ireland. Who am I going to drink with now?' and carried on for awhile."

Ron shook his head in dismay but then asked, "But how did I lose my memory? I don't remember any of this." Hermione smiled fondly at him.

"That's because of the powder Faolan used. When they were ready too break the curse, he took some green powder from his pocket, put it into the palm of his hand and blew it into your face. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you were out." Ron looked impressed as both Harry and Ginny grinned broadly.

"Hermione was very cute about the way she acted. The leprechauns explained that you would be out several hours as you returned to you natural height. After they left, she took you gently into her hands and carefully carried you here to the hospital wing. We, of course, came with her and offered to carry you, but she would have none of that." Both Ron and Hermione's cheeks were pink and she glared at the other two.

"I just wanted to make sure he got here all right."

"Thanks, Hermione."

Ginny, Harry, and Professor Dumbledore smiled indulgently as Hermione and Ron looked at each other with obvious affection. Then they both turned to the head master and asked him about the powder that had been used on Ron. As he was explaining to them the origins and effects of the powder, Hermione leaned forward to Ron and, blushing brightly, whispered.

"I accept." Ron looked at her in puzzlement.

"Accept what?" She smiled.

"You. Me. In Connemara with a beautiful sunset. Alone." Hermione emphasized the last word and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Ron's eyes went wide and displayed a mixture of eagerness and dismay.

"A-a-alone! To . . . But, I . . . I don't remember what I suggested. Oh, I . . . wish I could remember."

"You will . . . eventually." Ron was mercifully saved for the moment by Seamus' entrance into the ward. He was greeted with a chorus of "hellos" and "where have you beens." He grinned and waved hello.

"Ron, nice to see you're doing better and you're your old size. I'm really sorry about the mix-up, but am just as happy it didn't happen to me. Their curses can really be nasty. I've just come from sending my family an owl to let them know what happened here and to find out exactly why the king of the leprechauns is angry at the Finnigans and if everything is now alright back home." As Seamus was speaking, Hermione was staring intently at him. Finally, she spoke.

"Seamus, your ears are pointed."

Fin

* * *

(1) Girl. Pronounced call-een.

(2) Stick. Traditionally a large walking stick. Pronounced sha-lay-lee.


End file.
